The invention relates to a method for installing a coupling part such as a rubber grommet without chamfered lead-in in a grommet hole provided in structural members, usually made of plastic, employed primarily in the automobile industry, e.g, airfilter housings, resonators, containers for brake fluid or water, oil separators, pressure regulators, covers, or vacuum tanks.
Typically, grommets are inserted into the grommet hole in the direction of a center axis of the grommet hole. This requires a significant force expenditure and causes the grommet to undergo significant deformation possibly causing the grommet to become damaged.
Another way of installing a grommet is to provide a grommet slot that opens into the grommet hole and extends radially away from the grommet hole (see FIG. 1). The grommet slot opens at an edge of the structural member provided with the grommet hole so that the grommet can be pushed from the edge of the structural member through the radial grommet slot into the grommet hole. Such a grommet slot extending to the edge of a structural member has the disadvantage that the slotted structural member is prone to bend or warp so that insertion of the grommet is difficult. Moreover, the flexibility imparted to the structural member by the grommet slot negatively affects the alignment of the grommet and retention of the grommet as the dimensional stability of the structural member is impaired by the grommet slot.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,879 employs a similar principle. Disclosed is a plug-in coupling comprising a socket integral with a first structural member and provided with a laterally open cylindrical peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has an inwardly projecting collar with slot-shaped opening through which a female coupling part can be laterally inserted into the socket when manually compressed. A male coupling part of a second structural member is then inserted axially into the female coupling part for fastening the second structural member on the first structural member. The arrangement allows detachment of the male coupling part from the female coupling part and thus detachment of the structural parts if needed.